Atherton schools marking 175 years in 2011; no plans yet for celebration

BURTON, Michigan — Atherton has come a long way since a one-room log schoolhouse opened at the corner of Atherton and Center roads in 1836.

But with time ticking down on the school year, some alums are disappointed the school district isn’t making a bigger deal of its 175th anniversary.

View full sizeFile photoA classroom at Vern Van Y Elementary School in September 1984. The elementary school is the only one remaining in the district. Atherton schools is marking 175 years in 2011.

“It’s got to be quite special that you can trace a school district back to before we became a state,” said Bill Zelenko, a 1970 Atherton graduate and former school board member.

But, so far, Superintendent John Ploof said there are no definite plans on how to celebrate the milestone.

“It’s significant the fact a school district can be around for that long amount of time,” he said. “It’s something the district can be proud of.”

The log schoolhouse was built a year after Atherton settlement was founded in 1835, later doubling as a township hall.

In the decades since that schoolhouse opened — the year before Michigan officially became a state — the Atherton School District has grown to more than 900 students with three main school buildings.

Zelenko said the district was split into several different single-room schoolhouses around the area that doubled as churches and township halls.

The history of the district should be celebrated in some way, said Zelenko, who would like to see a lesson taught to students on the district’s past.

“I think, my personal opinion, is you don’t know where you’re going until you know where you’ve been,” said Zelenko.

View full sizeMatt Dixon | Flint JournalStudents exit Atherton High School at the end of the school day, Thursday, March 3. The Atherton School District is 175 years old this year.

The district is named after Betsey Atherton, the first teacher at the first schoolhouse. Atherton, daughter of Adonijah Atherton — one of the town’s first settlers — died a few months later, becoming the first person to die in the settlement, according to historical records.

By 1878, the district had grown to eight schoolhouses and 17 teachers with a total funding of $1,832.

Retired Atherton superintendent Mark Madden said four elementary schools existed as late as the 1960s, including Fisk on Manor Drive where a daycare now exists, H.W. Medler which is now a charter school on Genesee Road, Metzger on Sitka Street and Herbst on Clarice Street were both torn down.

Vern Van Y Elementary is now the district’s only elementary school.

“I was very honored to work there,” said Madden, who served 41 years as teacher, coach and superintendent. “I liked it so much because there was an exceedingly genuine group of people.”

The Medler building also served as the first Atherton High School, before the current facility was built during the 1964-65 school year.

Grand Blanc resident Joe Goodman was one of 18 students in Atherton’s first graduating class in 1954 at Medler.

“It was a brick building, modern at the time,” said Goodman, who played football, baseball and basketball at the high school.

When the high school moved, Medler became the middle school and during the 1969-70 school year became a sixth-grade only when the new middle school opened. In summer 1977, the building was struck by lightning around 2 a.m. resulting in the back half of the building burning down.

Goodman said he hopes the district will plan some kind of celebration of its longevity.

“175 years, my goodness yes,” he said.

View full sizeFile photoAn aerial photo taken in September 1968 depicts H.W. Medler Middle School (top), Atherton High School (center) and footings for the now Atherton Middle School (bottom). The Atherton district is marking 175 years in 2011.